SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 24

Well here we are then - Day 24 of the SPAOTP Advent Calendar.

As we open the last door, we find a picture showing the three of us - Graham, Terry and myself - following the sign that leads us towards peace, contentment and too much rich food and alcohol this Christmas.

We sincerely hope your yuletide brings you the best of everything that's possible to receive over the next few days and that you find time to be happy, if not downright Merry, with your loved ones.

From all of us here at Some People Are On The Pitch, have a cracking Christmas and we'll see you all again on the other side...

Have fun!

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 23

The penultimate day of our SPAOTP Advent Calendar features a handy guide to all the football action going on around the world... on Christmas Day.

And action there most certainly is, contrary to what you might be thinking, and the Middle East is where it's all happening.

For a start, Al-Faysali will be trying to extend their lead at the top of the Jordan League over third-placed Al-Weehdat (3 p.m. kick-off time there - GMT, of course).

In Gameweek 4 of the Kuwaiti Premier League, Al Sulaibikhat will be trying to pick up their first point of the season as they travel to 1996 champions Kazma. If you're thinking of tuning in your radio to Long Wave for commentary, the match starts at 1.05 p.m. GMT. Best to delay the ceremonial carving of the turkey for that one...

Over in Libya, Al Ahly Tripoli will be trying to close the 9-point gap between themselves and leaders Al-Ittihad by beating Al-Madina - the team level with them on points in third. The action starts at 1 o'clock p.m. GMT, sports fans...

Saudi Arabia's the place to be if you want to see another 2nd-place team trying to reach the summit as Al Shabab attempt to take all three points against visitors Al Nasr. Al Shabab are managed by former Portuguese midfielder Jaime Pacheco, don't you know. Oh and Sky Sports schedulers, if you're listening - this one starts at 12.15 p.m. GMT. We know how you like lunchtime kick-offs, so be sure to thank us later.

Finally to the United Arab Emirates where the quarter finals of the Presidents Cup are underway and there's a Christmas Day treat in store as Al Wahda play host to Al Nasr. Al Wahda have won eight of their last nine games and look set to match their achievements of 2008-09 when they reached the semi-finals of this competition. But you knew that already, of course. Procedings at the Al-Nahyan Stadium get underway at 3.50 p.m. GMT, but take our advice and get there early to avoid the rush.

If you can't get to any of the above matches, there are plenty of others going on in the countries mentioned as well as Yemen, Morocco and Syria, so if any of you go along to see any of these games, do let us know how you got on...

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 22

For Day 22 of our Advent Calendar, we take you back to the mid-1970's for one of the biggest football matches of the decade.

Not the European Cup Final, not even the World Cup Final, but something of far more significance - live from the Olympic Stadium, Munich.

And so now we take you over to our commentator for the match - the BBC's Michael Palin...



Answers to Day 21 Quiz:

1) Hamburg
2) "of the ticket."
3) The Road Runner
4) Gary Lineker
5) Scotland

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 21

We're back with five more quiz questions for you today on Day 21 of our Advent Calendar. See how you fair with these - and as ever, the answers will appear at the end of tomorrow's Advent Calendar post.

Question 1:
Who became the second West German club after Bayern Munich to win the European Cup?

Question 2:
What three words complete this well-known advert from The Times: "Man offers marriage for Cup Final ticket. Replies must enclose photo..."?

Question 3:
Which cartoon character gave Arsenal's Dutch international Marc Overmars his nickname?

Question 4:
Which former England striker played cricket for Leicestershire's second team?

Question 5:
Which country's football team appeared on a 1997 Gambian postage stamp?

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 20

It's Day 20 of our Advent Calendar and behind today's door is another of our famous Christmas graphs (famous in our tiny imaginations at least).

It shows the proportion of penalties scored by the home and away teams in all Premier League matches so far in the 2009/10 season (including the two scored today in the match between West Ham and Chelsea).

And before you ask, Man United's two at home this season make up only 4% of the 45 tucked away by all teams home and away thus far.

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 19

As it's the weekend, we thought we'd go easy on you by providing a musical interlude by which to relax and be peaceful. Rather than going out shopping for last minute Christmas presents, for instance.

So here's a song which is short on festive appeal but strong on football influences, but we don't suppose you'll mind. Here's 'The Referee's Alphabet' by Half Man Half Biscuit, as inspired by a blog post from our good friend at TwoFootedTackle, Gary Andrews.

Enjoy...

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 18

With just one week to go to the big day, we've got something to tax your brain cells over the festive season in the shape of SPAOTP's Big Advent Calendar Crossword!

All you need do is click on the grid below to expand it to it's full size, print it out, then fill it in with the answers that fit the clues we'll be giving you below - just like any normal crossword.

But here's the added bonus: if you take the correct letters that go in the yellow squares marked, then rearrange them, you should get a Christmas-related word. Send that word to us at info [at] spaotp [dot] com before midnight on December 31st 2009 (and, indeed, before anyone else does so before you) and you could win a Some People Are On The Pitch t-shirt! It's that simple!

So here's the grid, then below it comes the clues. Best of luck!

(Answers to appear on SPAOTP on January 1st 2010)



ACROSS

1 Team that plays at Qwest Field (7,8)
7 Grzegorz, top scorer at the 1974 World Cup (4)
9 See 8 Down (3)
11 Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish were famous ones (4)
13 Tiger Woods idea of a football team (4)
14 The Red Diamonds of Japan (5)
15 Stephen Fry's favoured team (7)
17 Neil, former Morton, West Ham and Hibernian midfielder (3)
19 Giovanni, coach of the 1985 Juventus European Cup-winning side (10)
24 Bruce, former coach of the USMNT (5)
25 Brazilian controversially dropped, then reinstated for the 1998 World Cup Final (7)
26 Niko, one of two Croatians at Tottenham (8)
31 England's top scorer at Mexico '86 (7)
33 Man City striker famed for his rapport with visiting Arsenal fans (8)
34 Fernando, current Anfield favourite (6)

DOWN

1 Home of The Eagles, London (8,4)
2 Number of times Derby County have been league champions (3)
3 The Grecians (6)
4 Score at the wrong end of the pitch (abbreviated) (2)
5 Watney Cup winners 1970 (5)
6 What you get for being sent off (3,4)
8 (and 9 across) NASL team from Jacksonville (3)
10 Ivica, Bayern's Croatian striker (4)
12 Tele, Brazilian coach of the 1982 and 1986 World Cup squads (7)
16 FIFA's international abbreviation for Ali Daei's team (3)
18 West Germany's 'Bomber' that always handed out a right Mullering (4)
20 Stadium where Bayern seek Allianz with their opponents (5)
21 Nickname of Weymouth FC, 'The ...' (6)
22 Asian Cup champions 2007 (4)
23 In the same 2010 World Cup group as Spain, Switzerland and Chile (8)
27 Van Nistelrooy or Gullit, perhaps? (4)
28 Man City striker, cuurently on loan with Everton (2)
29 Bearzot, coach of Italy's 1982 World Cup-winning team (4)
30 Casillas, goalkeeper of the Spanish national team (4)
32 Last season's Danish Superliga runners-up (2)

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 17

It's Day 17 of our SPAOTP Advent Calendar and that means there's only one more week of this merriment and jollity remaining.

Before you slip into a depressive torpor at the very thought that these happy days will soon be over, let's distract you with another of our caption competitions.

You know what to do by now, but if you don't, either work it out yourself or ask a grown-up for some help.

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 16

And now a special treat for Day 16 of our 2009 Advent Calendar.

If you've been waiting for a Subbuteo tribute that features some of the least recognisable teams from around the world ever to be cast in plastic set to a soundtrack that suggests someone is taking their obsession for table football a bit too seriously, you've come to the right place.

Behold the surreal wonderment that is today's SPAOTP video nugget of joy...



Answers to Day 15 quiz:

1) 12
2) Greyhound racing
3) Newcastle United
4) Chile
5) Manchester United

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 15

More quiz questions for you today on the SPAOTP Advent Calendar. You know you love 'em... :)

As usual, feel free to chip in with any guesses to the questions by leaving us a comment. Answers revealed on tomorrow's Advent Calendar post.

Here goes with today's questions, then...

Question 1:
How many players appeared in the team pictured on FIFA's 1995 Christmas card?

Question 2:
What sport were English league clubs banned from advertising around the pitch during the 1960s?

Question 3:
Which was the first English football club to have its restaurant listed in the Good Food Guide?

Question 4:
What country's goalkeeper allegedly cut his own head with a razor to get the match abandoned when losing to Brazil in 1990?

Question 5:
Which was the first British club to market its own mobile phone?

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 14

On the 14th day of Christmas, SPAOTP gave to you... a special gift to help you while away those boringly unending Champions League games on ITV!

Yes, today we bring you a free gift in the form of our ITV Football Bingo Cards. Simply click on the image below, print and cut out the bingo cards, then distribute them amongst yourselves and your family whenever you hear the distant dulcet tones of Clive Tyldesley and Jim Beglin.

The rules are simple. Whenever you hear one of the phrases on your bingo card called out, cross it out. Whoever crosses out all their phrases first wins the game, and if anyone crosses all their phrases within, ooh, 27 minutes, they win a special prize. We don't know what it is, let alone whether it even exists at all, but it's nice to embellish these things to make them sound more interesting.

Enjoy...

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 13

For Day 13 of the almost-certainly-by-now-famous SPAOTP Advent Calendar, we give you a pictorial representation of the Premier League teams that have received the most yellow cards so far this season (prior to December 13th 2009).

If you have any ideas for items you'd like us to feature in the calendar, you're more than welcome to send them to us. Either drop us a line at info@spaotp.com or else leave your message on a comment if you're not fussed about the rest of the world knowing about it before their time.

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 12

Can you believe we're already half-way through our Advent Calendar?

Yes, today is Day 12, and for that we bring you a video clip encapsulating those two things that are essential for any great Christmas - football and Morecambe & Wise.

Below this great old TV ad for Atari you'll find the answers to yesterday's quiz questions.



Answers to Day 11 Quiz:

1) Jimmy Greaves
2) Sheffield United
3) The Jules Rimet Trophy
4) Frankfurt
5) Chelsea

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 11

Time to tax those little grey cells today with five more cunning quiz questions on Day 11 of the SPAOTP Advent Calendar. As ever (ahem...), the answers will appear on tomorrow's Advent Calendar post.

Question 1:
Who, in 1963, became only the second Tottenham player ever to be sent off?

Question 2:
Which English football club was created when Yorkshire Cricket Club introduced football as a way of keeping players fit during the winter?

Question 3:
Abel Lafleur was the scuptor that designed which well-known football trophy?

Question 4:
Which German city's Forest Stadium was partially rebuilt for the 1974 World Cup?

Question 5:
Which club did former Liverpool star Craig Johnston name his daughter after?

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 10

For Day 10 of the SPAOTP Advent Calendar, it's a welcome return to some old friends that helped us convey our 12 Graphs of Christmas last year.

This year, they're back to illustrate how many American players are currently plying their trade in the top flight of five of the big European leagues...

(click image for a larger version)

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 9

Day 9 of SPAOTP's Advent Calendar and another chance for you to provide some headlines and captions for one of our seasonal pictures.

Today it's our old friend Santa (a.k.a. Mick McCarthy) doing away with the need for elves by ordering all his Christmas presents online, but can you provide a fitting caption to go with it?

As ever, leave us a comment and spread a little joy to the world this yuletide...

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 8

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a bit of retail therapy (actually, make that a LOT of retail therapy) so for Day 8 of our SPAOTP Advent Calendar, we're bringing you a selection of tasteful gifts that you can by direct from the online football club shop of your choice.

Of course sitting down at the table to eat copious amounts of turkey, stuffing and brussel sprouts is only half the story where Christmas Day's concerned. You need crackers, and to that end what could be better than to buy a pack of eight Arsenal crackers decorated in red shiny foil with a Gunners badge on top. We're not sure if the jokes inside are very good, but judging by the standard of the jokes Arsene Wenger puts out on the pitch every week, they should be pretty hilarious. (Sorry Graham, don't hit me...)

Christmas is all about giving, however, so why not give your Man City friends an official MCFC calendar? It'll be a great way of remembering those players who'll be largely absent during 2010 - players such as Emmanuel Adebayor (on African Nations Cup duty in January), Stephen Ireland (injured most of the time), Craig Bellamy (subject of a request to leave in the January transfer window) and Robinho (injured AND the subject of a request to leave in the January transfer window).

For fans of Man United, there's the chance to decorate their tree in style with a pack of four glass baubles - two coloured gold and two red. The red ones are particularly good as you can look at your reflection in them and see a passable resemblance of Sir Alex Ferguson. Clever stuff.

In the Hull City online shop, why not snap up a pair of flashing antlers? They run on batteries, one size fits all, and they're guaranteed to draw an enormous amount of attention to yourself - as endorsed by Phil Brown.

Portsmouth fans can emulate the goalkeeping prowess of their hero David James by purchasing these fleece gloves. They feature a Pompey club badge, are completely machine washable and are guaranteed not to grip a football if one's thrown at you.

Finally for all you Burnley supporters, there's a 2010 diary which looks the business with its large embossed club crest on the front. At £3.99, it's the ideal gift for anyone wanting to make note of all those avoidable and pointless away matches.

Know of any special Christmas gifts on sale at your club store online? Perhaps you've got a suggestion for some merchandise that should be on sale? Either way, leave us a comment and let us know...

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 7

For Day 7 of our Advent Calendar, we're going to produce a 'Friday List' with a difference.

There are two things that'll differentiate this list from the others, namely (1) it's not appearing on a Friday, and (2) it's going to be compiled largely by you (hopefully) rather than us.

Yes, today we're looking for the names of football players, teams or anything else you want to include that have a Christmas theme to them. Here's a few to start you off with, and if you think of any more, leave us a comment and tell us what they are.

So here goes...

The Christmas Club

1) Robin Van Persie
2) Roque Santa Cruz
3) Anyone that plays for Turkey

...?

(Oh, and by the way - here are the answers to yesterday's quiz questions:)

1) Everton
2) France
3) Bill Shankly
4) Goalkeeper
5) Paul Merson

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 6

Time now for another five quiz questions as we count down the days on our SPAOTP Advent Calendar.

Once again, feel free to leave us a comment with your guesses to the questions, and we'll tell you if they're right or wrong. If they're wrong, we promise not to laugh too much, but either way we'll tell you what all the correct answers at the end of tomorrow's Advent Calendar post. Here goes, then...


Question 1:
Which team played Arsenal in Britain's first televised football match?

Question 2:
Which country brought 360 bottles of wine to Euro 96 courtesy of a full back with shares in a vineyard?

Question 3:
Which former manager once said: "Norman Hunter misses a few but he gets in the right place to miss then"?

Question 4:
What position did both captains play in during the 1934 World Cup Final?

Question 5:
Which Arsenal player was once let off a driving ban because he needed his car to attend a rehabilitation clinic?

SPAOTP's Advent Calendar: Day 5

Christmas is less than three weeks away and thoughts no doubt will be turning to the 25th, a day when many of us will relish the chance to loosen our belts, stuff our digestive systems with the richest foods we can lay our hands on and watch the sort of TV that none of us in our right minds would normally tolerate at any other time of the year.

In short, it's a time to relax – even for football players up and down the UK. It wasn't always like that, though, as our Advent Calendar tale will show.

Right up until 1957, there was a full programme of matches played on Christmas Day, and very often they produced some of the biggest attendances of the whole season. The entertainment provided was often of a high standard too. Quite what prompted teams to play so well on a day when they should have been eating, drinking and being merry, we're not quite sure, but let's just say the Christmas spirit was often to be found in abundance.

On Christmas Day 1957, Portsmouth's trip to Chelsea was a little out of the ordinary to say the least. Jimmy Greaves scored four times (not as good as Jermain Defoe against Wigan, but you can't have everything) as Chelsea won the match 7-4. On the same day, Blackpool scored five against Leicester while Nottingham Forest put four past Newcastle United.

You'd possibly be forgiven for thinking Portsmouth's short journey to Chelsea on Christmas Day came about as the result of a fixture computer's calculations but you'd be wrong. Actually, if you thought a computer existed in 1957 that could work out such things, you deserve to be taken away to a lunatic asylum, but that's not the point. Back then, the men in charge of working out the Football League fixtures thought nothing of sending teams to the most distant backwaters – and on consecutive days of the festive season too.

Christmas 1946/47 was memorable for Tom Finney and his team-mates at Preston North End as he confided in an interview from 1979.

"We travelled down to London on Christmas Eve, and then after playing at Stamford Bridge [on Christmas Day], we all trooped to the station – both teams – and headed back North for the return fixture on Boxing Day.

"We all ate together on the train. What a strange way to spend Christmas Day, eating turkey and cranberry sauce with your opponents!

"It really was strange how you could go out and whack a team by five goals one day and then find yourselves on the receiving end of a similar lashing from the same team 24 hours later. That seemed to happen almost as a matter of course.

"I think footballers today are very lucky not to have to play on Christmas Day. For most of my career I was never able to have Christmas lunch with my family because I was always away travelling or playing football, and that was something I really missed."

Modern-day footballers think on.

That festive season of 1957 lingered long in the memory for its extraordinary football, however. Down in Division Two the weekend before Christmas, Huddersfield Town found themselves 5-1 up at Charlton Athletic. All seemed to be going splendidly well for The Terriers but they hadn't counted on Charlton's Johnny Summers taking the game by the scruff of the neck. Summers scored five goals of his own as Charlton ran out 7-6 winners, picking up a vital two points for their promotion push that season.

The exploits of Johnny Summers were nothing compared to Bunny Bell of Tranmere Rovers though. On Boxing Day 1935, Bell scored nine as his side thrashed Oldham Athletic 13-4. In fact Boxing Day deserves a category all of its own as SPAOTP discovered back in 2007, but that's another story completely...

These days, Boxing Day offers us the nearest experience to those Christmas Day fixtures of old, but with the exception of Chelsea and Aston Villa's 4-4 draw in 2007 it can't hold a light to those free-scoring days of fifty years ago or more.

You won't find players pulling Christmas Day crackers over a roast turkey lunch on a train either, and that's quite a shame really. The thought of Emmanuel Adebayor talking about the good old days with William Gallas is something that would sustain us unendingly on those cold winter nights for sure.

Never mind. When you sit down to eat your Christmas lunch this year, maybe you'll spare a thought for those players that sacrificed their festive celebrations to entertain the paying public years ago. We're all rather spoilt these days, so raise a glass to an era when football was as much a part of Christmas Day as The Queen's Speech, The Great Escape and chronic indigestion.